Despite the closure of the border, the Ogun 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has said it intercepted 2,251 bags of 50kg foreign rice smuggled into the country in September.

It said the rice came in through illegal routes in communities at Idiroko border in the Ipokia Local Government Area of the state.

The Controller of the command, Michael Agbara, said this on Tuesday while briefing journalists on the anti-smuggling activities.

He also said within the period under review, 36 used vehicles popularly known as tokunbo and five motorcycles were impounded from smugglers in the bushes and creeks by operatives of the command.

Agbara, who described the smugglers as economic saboteurs, listed other seizures as 1,402,185 litres of petrol; 1,010 cartons of frozen poultry products; 32 sacks of footwear; 42 bags of 50kg sugar; 20 bales of second-hand clothing, and 14 kegs of palm kernel oil.

Others are assorted pharmaceutical products; 23 cartons of tomatoes; 50 litres of kerosene; two sacks of leather bags; snuff powder, eight sacks of alligator pepper and 11 sacks of household items, among others.

Agbara said the total value of the seizures was N553.6m while the total payable value was N667.8m

He said during the recovery of one of the smuggled vehicles, a Mercedes Benz SUV 350ML, by his operatives at Ihunbo, a community along Idiroko Road, on Monday, an accident occurred in which a pupil of a community secondary school died, while three others were injured.

Source:- Punchng